Pensacola
Panhandle of Florida

Pensacola was the first European settlement on the continental United States, first settled by Don Tristan de Luna in 1559 when he established a settlement on Santa Rosa Island. The settlement did not last and was destroyed by a hurricane two years later in 1561. As it only lasted two years, most people credit St. Augustine and not Pensacola as the first European settlement. The Spanish returned, setting up a permanent settlement in 1698, but the next two hundred years were to be a turbulent time with the city coming under the control of five different nations.

FRENCH, SPANISH AND BRITISH CONTROL...
The French took control of Pensacola in 1719 but like the first Spanish settlers, they did not last long, being driven from the area by a hurricane in 1772, burning the settlement as they left. The Spanish returned in 1772 and the area became an important port and military outpost. It was not until the British took control of Pensacola in 1763 at the end of the Seven Years War that it began to prosper. During the American Revolution, both East and West Florida remained loyal to the British Crown, while the French and Spanish allied themselves with the American rebels. It was during the Battle of Pensacola that the city once again fell under Spanish control in 1781, and here it remained (except for three short incursions by General Andrew Jackson) until 1821 when the Adams-Onis Treaty ceded control of all Spanish Florida to the United States.

FESTIVAL OF THE FIVE FLAGS...
Andrew Jackson became Florida’s first governor, basing himself in Pensacola where he became noted for his persecution of the Indians. The cotton industry flourished, fueled by Florida’s increasing slave population, and the city continued to grow. The fifth flag was that of the Confederate States of America when Florida seceded from the Union in January 1861. Pensacola was eventually conquered by the Yankee army, who burned most of the city and Florida was readmitted to the Union in June 1868. The annual Festival of the Five Flags is held in June, honoring the town’s history of occupation by Spain, France, England, the United States and the Confederacy.

MUSEUM OF AVIATION...
Pensacola Naval Air Station is currently home to the National Museum of Aviation with its collection of over 200 planes, including the NC-4 - the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic. The three Navy/Curtiss flying boats took off from Long Island in an attempt to be the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic. Two of the three aircraft (NC-1 and NC-3) were forced to land in heavy seas, damaging themselves during the landing and leaving NC-4 to continue alone. Other featured exhibits include a World War II F6 - Hellcat; K47 - Airship; the command module from the first Skylab mission in 1973 and the USS Cabot Flight Deck - a recreation of the deck on a World War II aircraft carrier. Pensacola Naval Air Station is also home to the US Navy Blue Angels display team, who can be seen practicing most Tuesday and Wednesday mornings during the season, when you can see the pilots perform air acrobatics in their F/A-18 Hornets.

HOMES FROM VARIOUS ERAS...
The Historic Pensacola Village is in T.T. Wentworth Jr’s Florida State Museum - a collection of homes and buildings from various eras in different architectural styles, occupying four blocks and including museums of industry and commerce.

THE STORY OF THE IMPRISONMENT OF A ONCE PROUD INDIAN...
West of Navarre Beach is Fort Pickens which includes a small museum explaining the origins of the area and also records the imprisonment of 17 Apache Indians in 1886. One of the Indians was a Chief named Goyahkla - better known as Geronimo. They raided across New Mexico, Arizona and northern Mexico, becoming the most feared Apache. Eventually captured at Skeleton Canyon in 1886, Geronimo and his Apache warriors were due to be shipped by rail to Fort Marion in St. Augustine. Some of Pensacola’s business leaders petitioned the government to have them sent to Fort Pickens, claiming that Fort Marion was overcrowded and not as secure. On October 25th 1886, Geronimo and 14 of his men arrived at Fort Pickens where they were to spend their days doing hard labour and being stared at by tourists who came to see the once proud Indian. Reduced to a sideshow spectacle he was to live out the rest of his days as a prisoner.

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